1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to mobile communications and, more particularly, to methods for registering subscribers by communicating subscription profiles from a GSM communications network to a TDMA/CDMA communications network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Registration is a concern for mobile telecommunications service providers. Each time a subscriber enters a new coverage zone within a mobile switching center, and when a registration timer expires, the subscriber must register with the mobile switching center. The process of registration involves communicating the subscriber's subscription profile from the subscriber's Home Location Register to the mobile switching center. This subscription profile is used to process incoming and outgoing communications for the subscriber. A problem arises, however, when the subscriber's Home Location Register cannot be accessed by the mobile switching center. If the Home Location Register cannot be accessed, then the subscriber cannot register and, thus, the subscriber cannot send and/or receive communications.
A “foreign communications network” is an example. If the subscriber is trying to register with a foreign communications network, sometimes that foreign communications network cannot access the subscriber's Home Location Register. When, for example, a subscriber is activated in a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications network, neither a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) communications network nor a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communications network may be able to access the subscriber's Home Location Register. Because the GSM, TDMA, and CDMA communications networks operate using different signaling standards, the subscriber's Home Location Register may not be accessible to a foreign communications network using a different signaling standard. When, then, a foreign communications network is encountered, the registration process sometimes fails and the subscriber cannot send and receive communications.
Migration of subscribers is another example. Sometimes a telecommunications service provider will move, or “migrate,” a subscriber's subscription profile from one network standard to another network standard. The subscriber's subscription profile, for example, may be migrated from a TDMA/CDMA communications network to a GSM communications network. After the subscriber's subscription profile is migrated, the TDMA/CDMA communications network must be re-provisioned to find and to access the subscriber's subscription profile on the GSM communications network. If the TDMA/CDMA communications network is not re-provisioned to find the subscriber's subscription profile, the registration process might fail, thus preventing the subscriber from sending and/or from receiving communications.
There is, accordingly, a need in the art for improved registration of subscribers, a need for improved methods and systems of accessing a subscriber's Home Location Register, a need for methods and systems to register a subscriber with a foreign communications network, and a need for improved methods and systems of migrating subscribers from one network to another network.